Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Headline: Air Force Plans for All-Drone Future

Okay, take it with a grain of salt, but the subtext is that the days of 
Air Force resistance to the use of drones are over.

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/07/air-force-plans-for-all-drone-future/
  

    
The whole business makes me sick.
  

    
I'm not so sure. When there's plenty of time to get a close-up view
without putting the pilot's life at risk, it allows for more patient
decisions.
  

    
Israel Rolls Out World's Biggest UAV

Rattling a saber and marketing a product at the same time, Israel
rolls a new Unmanned Arial Vehicle into action.

The Eitan or Heron is not just any drone. It's a whopper as big as a
Boeing 737, capable of staying in the air for 20 hours and capable of
reaching Iran. 

Full story:
<http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/02/22/israel-rolls-out-worlds-biggest-
uav/?test=latestnews>

Other coverage:
<http://www.theage.com.au/world/giant-israeli-drone-puts-iran-within-range-2010
0222-orp1.html?autostart=1>
<http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3851377,00.html>
<http://www.defense-update.com/features/2010/february/eitan_rollout_21022010.ht
ml>
<http://blogs.zdnet.com/emergingtech/?p=460>
  

    
Big + not stealthy + slow = sitting duck.

What's new here is hang time and range, otherwise 1990 vintage cruise 
missiles are more of a threat.

The message is probably on the order of "this is just the tip of the
iceberg."
  

    
Except for the electronics (and electronics are cheap - it's software
development that costs money) the thing looks fairly low-tech, though
fuel-efficient, and probably pretty cheap to produce. 

So if you attack (say) Iran, what happens if you send 1,000 of them? Or
more? Even with moderate attrition, you're way ahead. You can even
send waves of them to distract air defenses. Send some high, some low.
Decoys.  They don't even all have to carry ordnance.  It's a game-changer. 
  

    
Armed with very fast, medium range, anti-radiation (anti-RADAR) missiles,
set to launch a few seconds before the remotely controlled host ship was
destroyed by RADAR controlled ground-to-air or air-to-air missiles, it
certainly could be.  Not only do you get the other side to expend
ordinance, but you have a good shot at taking out their RADAR at the same
time.